Duplicity's a Matter of Fact
by lefcadio
Summary: Light x L. A thunderstorm, an unexpected conversation, and cake.


**Notes**: This is set around volume 3-ish. :)

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The world shifted by in a monochrome blur: individuals in a hurry and chattering groups of teenagers; trees rustling in the breeze and carefully maintained flowerbeds; tall, imposing offices and bustling shops. Light passed them all, acknowledging none, gaze fixed upon the grey, concrete pavement beneath his feet as he walked.

Keep going; it's not important. There are more urgent things to think about.

The sky was a solemn blanket of clouds, thickening with the promise of rain. The dull, heavy atmosphere usually prevalent before a storm was building, but Light had failed to notice it. Later, he would look back on that day and scorn his distractedness - how careless he had been.

Ryuk was hovering behind him, unusually silent, merely watching his human companion increase his distance from the university with single-minded determination. Light was not being so amusing today.

Abruptly, Light slowed for a moment, and turned his head a fraction to peer behind him down the street; his mouth twisted into a satisfied smirk. Despite the chill in the air, his jacket hung open as though he could barely feel it. In truth, though, Light's mind was elsewhere.

Increasing his pace again, Light finally brought his gaze up to watch the street ahead of him as he turned a corner.

"Yagami-kun."

No, no, _no_.

It wasn't a loud voice; was never a loud voice - just that quiet, distinctive tone and a gentle hand on his arm. Of course, he stopped.

"Ryuga."

It looked like he wouldn't be avoiding L today after all. Light forced a neutral expression onto his face and glanced back, not even bothering to fully face him. The constant traffic to their left provided a buzzing background hum and frequent wafts of unpleasant fumes.

L didn't even bother to speak. Just stood there in that absurdly casual way of his, shoulders hunched and shoelaces trailing, hands now stuffed in his pockets. Light raised an eyebrow, and suddenly became acutely aware of the coming storm; the tension in the air was rising.

He refused to break the silence first - L had come to him, L could do the talking. By now he was far too used to that seemingly blank stare and those dark-circled eyes; L could not intimidate him, and they both knew that. He could see Ryuk grinning out of the corner of his eye - Light knew the shinigami regarded these little… run-ins almost as games; apparently watching he and L trying to metaphorically trip each other up passed for entertainment.

The pause was long, and L's expression remained blank. It was hard to tell whether it was an intentional mask - much like his own - or whether L really did just look so naturally absent-minded all the time. Light preferred to assume the former, as the latter actually made him feel rather uneasy.

"…Yagami-kun," L gazed at him earnestly, scuffing the end of his right shoe into the pavement, "would you like to talk somewhere? You seemed to be… in a hurry… between classes today."

Light gritted his teeth and shifted his face into a slightly more pleasant expression, smiling faintly as he inclined his head, though his eyes remained cold. "Of course. You know how I love these conversations we have."

L nodded, not even a flicker of change passing over his features. The sky darkened further, and for a moment it seemed to Light as though L's dusky eyes could look straight through him.

And then, L was walking past him, almost shuffling along as his bare feet kept slipping up out of the loose shoes he reluctantly wore. Light unenthusiastically followed, irritated with himself for somehow not realising that L had managed to follow him. He knew L was sneaky, but he'd thought they were perhaps past the stalking stage… but apparently not.

L seemed to know where he was going, and veered off to the right to step inside a small café - one which, though gloomy and mostly-empty, had an array of various cakes and sweets displayed in the window. Of course. He stood there in the doorway, simply watching Light approach, and then disappeared inside.

Light was sorely tempted just to leave right now before L noticed, but could hear Ryuk snickering faintly behind him and stiffened; L might be annoying, but he was nothing Light couldn't handle. And after all, perhaps today would be the day he caught L off-guard.

He stepped inside into the dreary interior just as the first crack of thunder sounded. It rumbled deeply and persistently, and Light estimated that the storm was probably about four miles away from them. He could have been at home by now if L hadn't turned up.

Though he was positioned near the back, almost in a corner, Light still spotted him immediately. He made his way over, Ryuk still following him like a permanent shadow. L was sitting in his habitual way, knees pressed up against the side of the table, and Light could see he'd actually kicked off his shoes, so his toes curled around the edge of his chair. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and took the seat opposite.

"What's this?" He looked down at the plate in front of him, before glancing back up to be met by L's predictable wide-eyed gaze.

"It's cake."

Ryuk was laughing again, gleefully watching as Light tried to hide his growing annoyance, "hey, Light! So he's buying you cake now? You two been gettin' along better than you've been letting on?"

Light ignored him, but the grip with which he held his fork was unnecessarily tight.

"Look, Ryuga… is there something particularly important you wanted to talk to me about? Because I have a lot of work to get done, and at this rate I'm going to get caught in a downpour."

The slight anger that Light had let colour his voice didn't seem to phase L in the slightest; he just sat there, dark hair falling into his eyes, calmly eating the strawberries from the top of his cake.

"Not really," he murmured, gaze flitting between Light and the food on the table, "I just wanted to talk to you."

As a rule, Light did not allow himself to become flustered. Though he would possibly have been approaching such a feeling now, if L's presence had not been so… well, _aggravating_. He tapped his fork against the wooden table impatiently, not touching his cake. How was it that L always sounded so polite, and yet at the same time managed to sound like everything he said was a veiled insult?

Or perhaps he was imagining it; L did tend to make him a little over defensive.

"I imagine, Yagami-kun, that if you were Kira you'd be thinking about killing me now." L actually smiled, then - though it was a quick, bright flash which disappeared almost instantly. Light swallowed, momentarily taken aback. Because, actually… he hadn't.

There was another peal of thunder outside - only short, this time, and almost immediately the rain started to fall, thick and fast.

Light shrugged, watching as L consumed his cake rather inelegantly. "Why would you say that?"

L swallowed and gestured with his fork, peering out from over his knees as the rain hammered against the pavement outside, "because Kira hates having his time wasted, of course. But Kira would have come anyway, because it's just another opportunity to try and find out who I am. So why did you come, Yagami-kun?"

Ah. Dark-rimmed eyes observed him carefully, and Light leaned forwards, elbows on the table.

"Why shouldn't I? Kira's not the only person who's curious about you, I'm sure. And it may be a waste of time… but who says I don't enjoy spending time with you regardless?"

Ryuk seemed to almost choke on his laughter, and Light could practically sense the shouts of 'liar, liar!' he was sure would suddenly ring out.

L actually seemed to consider this carefully, and tilted his head a little. "It's reassuring to know, then, that I'm not entirely forcing my unwelcome presence upon you, Yagami-kun."

Light kept his gaze steady, and made sure his voice was soft and a little more friendly than before. "I suppose so. But it still makes it somewhat awkward when I know you're… constantly assessing the possibility of my being Kira."

L had long finished has cake, and there were crumbs scattered over the table in front of him.

"I apologise, Yagami-kun; you know it's simply out of necessity. I'd much rather I could be certain you're not Kira, you know."

Light narrowed his eyes and smiled speculatively, watching as L pushed the dessert remnants around his plate compulsively.

"Ah, yes… just because you want my full help and co-operation on the Kira case, of course."

L stopped for a moment and looked up at him, "mostly, but not entirely. I do like you, Yagami-kun," he said simply, and then brought his hand up to his mouth to bite on the end of his thumb. If Light hadn't known better, he would have said it was a nervous habit.

So… perhaps…

Light pretended to let a genuine note of surprise and affection slip into his voice, "…really?"

Let's see, let's see… would it be more satisfying to have L commit suicide? Or to have him be caught in a tragic traffic accident, or, perhaps, to have him slowly and painfully taken down by a debilitating disease…

He smiled, managing to look a little nervous, and pushed his own untouched cake over towards L.

Light wondered how far he could take this. It all depended on how serious L actually was about liking him. If this could perhaps make L trust him a little more… though it was possible L was lying. He could just be saying that to try and confuse him, to try and get him to slip up.

"…thank you," L gave him a small smile, then, one which did not instantly disappear, "and, of course. I have no reason to lie to you about such things."

Light grinned, then; a predator's smile, and even Ryuk was momentarily rendered speechless by what he did next.

Swiftly and deliberately, Light half stood up from his seat and leaned over the table, arms resting in the centre, until his face was only inches away from L's. The rain outside was a constant, quiet drumming.

"You know," he said softly, studying how pale L's skin seemed in the darkened room, "if we're going to be truthful with one another, you should probably know that I like you as well."

Was he imagining it, or had L's breathing quickened; become shallower? Perhaps that's how he would sound if Light killed him by asphyxiation…

"…Yagami-kun, I think--"

But at that moment Light closed the distance between them, and kissed L on the corner of his half open mouth. Both of them had their eyes open; Light's calculating, L's unreadable as always.

Ryuk was simply gaping, utterly silent.

Somewhat distantly, Light couldn't help but observe that L tasted sweet, and would have been tempted to prolong the kiss had he not already decided what had to happen.

"Oh--" he broke away quickly, and almost fell back into his seat; Light made sure to keep his eyes downcast, and tapped his fingers on the table nervously. "Ryuga… I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Ah, Yagami-kun…" Light ventured a quick glace to observe L's reaction, and for once he actually seemed relatively nonplussed. What he wasn't quite expecting, though, was for one of L's cool hands to close over his own which was still on the table.

He looked up sharply, to be met with L's dark, wide-eyed stare.

"…You still think this is Kira, don't you?" Light made sure to add that slight, hurt tremor to his voice.

"Well, I--"

"No," Light interrupted him, and pulled his hand away. Truthfully he was relieved, as the contact had been making him uneasy. Perhaps when it happened he would make L lose his limbs first.

It appeared as though L had been taken in by it… although L was almost as sneaky as him, so it could be hard to say.

"I'll see you soon, Ryuga," he said abruptly, standing up so quickly his chair clattered to the floor behind him, "I feel I've embarrassed myself enough already, so I won't stay to make it worse." He turned, and, ignoring L's surprised protests behind him, headed for the door. Ryuk still seemed to be in shock, repeatedly glancing back and forth between Light and L.

Knowing he'd managed to manipulate L in such a way pleased Light greatly; he'd not felt like he'd had such an upper hand in direct contact for a while. Of course, it remained to be seen how much extra trust that had bought him - if any at all - but if L's reaction had been genuine…

So when he stepped outside into the cool, fresh air, the rain had stopped and the sky was brightening. While it could always be difficult to tell exactly who was acting more in their little plays, Light was fairly sure that, with L left behind him in the café and Ryuk hovering beside him, he was one step closer to getting exactly what he wanted.


End file.
